There's a Crow in the Sakura Blossom Tree
by lilJelf23
Summary: Haruno Sakura lives a life of solitude inside of her apartment as she began to grow apart from her best friends. As time passes, she hopes for excitement. When she finally decides to make a change in her routine, she didn't realize the consequences. Little did she know, but when she stepped out of the gates of her village, she was left for the crows.::ItaSaku paring::LILAU UPDATING
1. Prologue

**Authors Note: Welcome to my new story! I've worked a long time developing this plot and I saw fit to start actually posting the chapters. I hope you enjoy and I will update as soon as I can!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned, on the plot.**

::Prologue::

Sakura's feet began to feel heavy as she reached the bottom of the hospital's steps. The young kunoichi had just finished her late night shift and she was ready to go home. Her legs felt like lead as she walked slowly down the darkened street.

The village of the leaf was sound asleep and Sakura could feel the breathing of her precious home whisk against her skin. The wind picked up her rosette hair and she clutched her medical coat tighter to her developed frame.

Sakura was quite proud of her new developed figure. She has grown a lot now that she has turned the grand age of 18. Her stature has still deemed her the shortest kunoichi for her age at 5'3. Even though her height never changed, her figure grew in various places that she was very grateful for. Her waist decided to change into a sweet little hourglass figure and her bust filled it's self out sweetly. Her bust wasn't near as big as Tsunade's, not even close, but they filled out nicely and seemed like the perfect size for her petite figure. Her features on her face seemed older as well. Her eyes were softer looking, which came with her bodies maturity, with long lashes lining her emerald irises. Her pink locks framed her face so she would raise her billboard brow high. Her hair had grown a bit in length, just about to her shoulders. She also kept her forehead protector fastened sweetly around her head as usual.

Upon finally reaching her house, she fumbled in her coat pockets to find her keys. She unlocked the door and opened it to see her darkened living room. Breathing in the aroma of vanilla, she quietly slid off her work coat and draped it on the coat rack, though there was no reason to remain quiet.

Sakura lived alone in the solitude of her home. After he parents had passed, there were many offerings to come live with her to keep her from going stir crazy. She kindly rejected and enjoyed the solitude of her home. She felt like the walls whispered her sweet lullabies, and she didn't want anyone to disturb the sweet melodies.

Sakura walked into her kitchen and flipped on the light switch. The room instantly illuminated and she walked over to her stove to heat up a kettle of water for tea. She turned away from the stove and stood at her counter.

Sakura's eyes glazed over as she starred at a single point on her tiled floor. All she could here was the slight popping of the tea kettle and the wind scratching against her windows. A pang of loneliness began to arouse in her. Sakura always goes through the repetitive cycle of her feelings when she finally comes home. It's hard to keep yourself from feeling loneliness when all your friends have slowly broken away from you.

Sakura's closest friends, Naruto Uzamaki and Sasuke Uchiha, have gone their separate ways from their little cherry blossom. Naruto had finally achieved his dream and had became Hokage. When he learned the news of him being chosen, he went straight to Sakura to express his excitement. Sakura could feel her importance in his life. She knew he saw her as his best friend. After his admission into the position, his focus turned to Leaf and his new fiancé, Hinata. He slowly stopped talking with Sakura on a daily basis. Now, the only time they talk is when Sakura is assigned missions.

Sakura's heart longs for the attention of a single Uchiha as well. Sasuke Uchiha has always been the center for her love, but they never had a relationship. Sasuke has never showed any notion to their relationship and has never even seen her potential. After Sasuke returned from his power lust rage, he didn't speak to Sakura. Even after Orochimaru is killed, Sasuke never batted an eyelash at the rosette. Sakura wishes for his love, but their distance seems to make their relationship seem impossible. She couldn't understand his rejection for her. From what she could see his so called 'rebirth' of the Uchiha clan was not being put into motion. Sakura knew of a handful of Kohona women who would love to be Sasuke's mate, but even through their affections and attractiveness, he rejected them as well. At least Sakura didn't act like she belonged to a brothel like the other female suitors, but he still ignored her affections.

Sakura pulled her hand up and pushed back her bangs. She twirled her ends between her finger tips, a habit she's developed over the years. She continued to stare and be lost in thought, until a loud screeching sound broke into her ears.

Sakura turned and picked up the screeching kettle off the stove and sat it on the holder. Slowly, she grabbed a cup and poured the tea. The herbal scent kissed Sakura's nose

.

As the hot liquid trickled down her throat, she attempted to push away her negative thinking.

She sighed and cupped the warm cup in her hand.

All Sakura could do was sip down the herbal tea and hope for a miracle to change her continuous cycle of emotions.

She silently hopped for an anomaly in her life.


	2. Chapter 1

**Authors Note: I absolutely could not wait till Wednesday to update so here is the chapter a day early. If you haven't visited my profile, my update schedule is every other Wednesday, but there may be days where that will change. **

**THIS STORY IS A SLIGHT AU ITASAKU, PLEASE NO SHIP BASHING.**

::Chapter one::

When Sakura woke up the next morning, she quickly dressed and prepared to leave to go to her morning shift at the hospital.

Sakura worked every day in her white coat and her pink hair pulled up into a tight bun. Only her bangs were loose from their tight up do. She kept herself busy at the hospital because she knew she would be needed there.

Sakura always had a purpose in Kohona ever since she surpassed the legendary Sannin, Tsunade.

When she ran around with Sasuke and Naruto, she deemed herself as a ball and chain.

She knew she had to grow in strength to be able to catch up with her two best friends, so after Sasuke left for Orochimaru she demanded that Tsunade will train her as her apprentice. When she accepted, she quickly began training and grew became an outstanding medical kunoichi.

Now, as she walks through the hospital doors, she knows she will surpass her two friends in at least one category.

"Haruno-san!" As soon she placed her medical hat on her head, a nurse ran up to her side.

"What is it?" Sakura fixed the lapels on her jacket.

"A genin team fresh out of the academy is injured and needs immediate attention." The nurse seemed very worried, but with Sakura's expertise, she wasn't too worried about the banged up kids.

Nodding her head, she followed the nurse into the rooms housing the genin.

Sakura finished her shift and exited the hospital quickly. Despite the fact she loved staying at the hospital, she longed to go back home. Her long day patching up cuts and bruises of countless young shinobi forced her to relive her past years as a genin.

Her thoughts constantly lingered back to Sasuke and Naruto. She couldn't stop thinking about their first being a team.

The encounter with Zabuza and Haku of Kirigakure was one of their first major missions together. She could vividly remember the way Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi all fought. She watched them from far away with Tazuna. She felt useless standing back there. That was then she felt she needed to become stronger.

Now, as she walks down the dark street of her village, she knows she is stronger than before. Just not to the extent of Sasuke and Naruto. She knew she could never match up to an Uchiha and a Kyuubi.

Sakura then noticed footsteps approaching her from behind. She listened closely, but kept her pace. She checked for a chakra signature, but could not recognize it. The footsteps were nearly inaudible, but luckily Sakura possessed the keenly trained kunoichi ears.

She begged her body to turn around to confront the stranger, but her mind told her to keep walking and to mind her own business.

How could she mind her own business? She was alone on this barren street with a mystery person with no one around. It was late, so an ordinary person would be asleep.

Sakura clutched her coat around her and picked up her pace just a bit. Her eyes begged to see behind her, but her head remained straight.

Why was this person walking with such precaution and suspicion?

_A shinobi with a habit?_

There wouldn't be any shinobi following her. All shinobi were either living their lives or going on missions, so why would one follow a simple kunoichi?

Unable to continue her argument with herself, she forced herself to stop.

Cursing herself as she turned, her eyes met with the stranger's.

Dark, cold ebony eyes starred deep into her emerald orbs. There stood a man she had only seen a couple times these past few years.

Sasuke stood in front of her, a bit closer than expected. His body was nearly touching hers. His hands were in his pocket and he bore his normal bored expression. She could see that his hair had grown a bit, but not too much from the genin years. His eyes also seemed a bit different. They seemed to house less hatred than before.

She continued to stare as he did too. The wind whisped silently around them.

"Hello Sakura" He whispered her name and it seemed to have sparked a flame inside of Sakura. She felt her teenage love resurface. Her stomach butterflies seemed to come back to life, for they had died long ago. She wanted to swoon and sigh at his appearance like the obsessive fan girl she was.

But she didn't let herself fall into an immature fit and held her composure.

"Hello Sasuke" Her hand flew to her hair and took a strand between her finger and began twisting it. Sasuke watched her hand. She could feel a blush warming up her face.

"What are you doing here?" Sakura asked. Sasuke continued to look at her hand as she twisted the rose lock.

"That's what I wanted to ask you." Sasuke's eyes never left her hand as he spoke.

_Why is he examining you?_

'I don't know.'

Sakura moved her weight from one foot to the other. The street was deathly quiet.

"I just got off work." Sasuke broke his trance with her hand and raised an eyebrow at her. She couldn't tell if she should take offence to his confusion or not. Was it a crime for her to work?

_He thinks you're still weak._

"I work at the hospital." Sakura used her free hand to point behind her. Sasuke didn't look into the direction she was pointing, only at her face.

A bit embarrassed she lowered her hand. "Will you tell me why you were following me?"

"I wanted to see if you were okay." Sasuke continually starred into her eyes, forcing her to become entranced in his dark, cold eyes. "You shouldn't be out here by yourself."

"Why does it matter to you?" She tried her best to mask her infatuation, but it was quiet difficult.

"Hn." Sasuke gave a classic Uchiha answer, which pissed her off beyond repair. For many years she dealt with his silence, but this time he was going to speak to her.

"Well?" Her hand dropped from her hair to her hips, and his eyes watched their entire movement. She cocked her hip and waited. He seemed to be pondering an answer. She stood there waiting, but began to feel bored. She wasn't going to stand there and wait for him to develop and useless story. Sakura gave a small sound and turned on her heel. She took two steps, then something caught her arm roughly.

She gasped and turned to Sasuke, who stared at her with the familiar hateful eyes. She was shocked by his sudden change in attitude. Never before had he laid a hand on her. Sakura could barley touch him without him flinching away, but now he had the nerve to grab her forcibly? She shook her arm attempting to free herself, but saw no way out of it. His grip was firm and looked as if it was to leave a few bruises.

_Why is he being so aggressive?_ Inner Sakura screamed at herself. Sakura felt fire burn the zombie butterflies in her stomach. Anger rose quickly to her face as she jerked her arm away from Sasuke.

"Don't touch me!" Sakura screamed loudly, hopeful maybe someone would hear her. Sasuke reached for her again but she slapped his arm away from him. Not just any slap, a nice chakra infused smack. Sakura's ears could hear a couple cracks come from his arm. Sasuke gasped in pain and held his arm tightly against himself.

Before he could retaliate, Sakura was already running down the straight. She didn't want to take the chance of him reaching for her again. The way he touched her was frightening, she hadn't seen him that aggressive in a while.

Sasuke watched her hair move from side to side as she ran. His arm was clutched to his chest and he needed medical attention, but he felt the urge to watch her body disappear down the dark streets of his home.

There was so much he needed to say to her, but when she turned her back on him, he felt broken.

Everyone turned their back on him.

He stared down the street long after she had disappeared, contemplating thoughts wreaking havoc in his brain.

When the pain was finally too unbearable to contain, he turned in the direction of the hospital.

When Sakura finally reached her house, she quickly pushed up the door, locked it and waited for her heart to catch up to her. She ran with such carelessness that she wasted her energy. She didn't care if she sounded like an elephant running down the silent streets, but she was not going to tolerate another episode of Sasuke's.

What had gotten into Sasuke?

What was with this aggressiveness?

Has something happened to him?

When her breathing finally caught up to her, she went to her bed room.

She quickly stripped off her clothing and crawled into her bed. She tangled herself into her blankets and her mind began to go on a tangent of thoughts.

She couldn't get the look of Sasuke's eyes out of her mind. They were kind and strong at first, but then they turned dark, hateful, and fierce. She couldn't believe the sudden change in emotion in a matter of seconds. He was like a hormonal teenager.

Sakura could feel tears stinging her eyes, but she willed them away. She hasn't cried in years, and this fiasco tonight wasn't going to ruin her promise.

She clutched the blankets tightly around her and willed herself to sleep.

Before she finally drifted off to sleep, she got idea.

Tomorrow she would pay a visit to an old friend.

The next day, Sakura finally neglected wearing her usual hospital outfit and allowed herself to break out some of her more casual looks. Sakura took her time to pull on some faded jeans, a classic red spaghetti strap top, and a long sleeved black cardigan. For once, she had let her hair to allow her shoulder length hair to wave around her face and her bangs framed her eyes perfectly. Before exiting her home, she slipped on her shoes and gave one last look at herself in the mirror. The person she saw was her teenage self, but with a lot more maturity and wisdom.

Her eyes were bright and full of happiness, but she knew these eyes also harbored a lack of happiness covered by a thick façade. She knew that she could probably never mend the wounds in her eyes and heart, but she knew that she could at least mask them like a band aid and hope they will heal eventually.

And with her final smile in the mirror, she broke away and exited her safe house.

Next thing she knew, she was standing in front of the Hokage's office. She promptly pushed open the doors leading her inside. Most wouldn't dare enter the Hokage's office without at least knocking, but Sakura didn't care.

She knew the Hokage personally.

When she stepped inside, she could see Hinata standing next to the seated figure in the white and red robe and hat clutching some papers. She looked up as Sakura walked up to the desk.

She gave her a big smile, but didn't say a word. Sakura could see how much of a mature and softer look Hinata has acquired with age. Her hair was much longer and her bust grew to an almost Tsunade state. You could say Sakura was a bit envious, but she wouldn't show it.

The robed figure finally looked up to the Kunoichi. His ocean orbs lit up instantly when he saw Sakura.

"Sakura-chan! You didn't tell me you were coming in today!" The man quickly tore off his hat to reveal the short gold locks beneath. He grinned from ear to ear when he walked around the desk quickly. Sakura opened her arms and he picked her up in a hug with great excitement.

His hug seemed to soothe her loneliness for a moment, she knew she really needed this hug.

"Well hello to you Naruto-kun" She giggled in his arms and he chuckled back. When he released her, she straightened her outfit promptly. She gave Naruto a smile before looking to Hinata. "And hello to you too Hinata-san." Hinata smiled and bowed a bit. Hinata was never one to talk much, but she didn't seem to want to blush whenever someone spoke to her.

"What are you doing here?" Naruto recaptured her attention.

"Oh just wanted to stop by and see how you were doing. I haven't seen you in a while." Sakura smiled slyly. Naruto smiled right back.

"It's been a long while, I've only seen you a couple of times this last year." Naruto walked back around to his chair. He motioned her to sit. " Why haven't you been doing any missions? Have you been taking extra shifts at the hospital?"

Sakura sat down with ease and crossed her legs. "Yeah, you know that going on missions and stuff isn't really my thing anymore. I'm needed more here than on the field."

"Of course you are, you practically surpassed Tsunade-baachan." Naruto leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms casually behind his head.

Hinata did change, in both appearance and maturity, but Naruto seemed to only mature in his looks. He was still the same old, playful Naruto she knew and love. She couldn't believe how good that made her feel.

"I wouldn't really say that Naruto-kun." Sakura blushed a bit.

"Oh shursh," Naruto chuckled then motioned Hinata to him. After sending her to get some drinks for them, he turned back to Sakura. He faltered from the happy go lucky Naruto to a more serious Naruto.

"So why are you actually here Sakura-chan? You haven't spoken to me in so long. Has something happened?" Naruto folded his arms in front of him. Sakura knew he was going to bring this up. It was weird of her to just randomly show up in his office.

"Okay," Sakura held her hands up defensively. "Something did happen and I came in need of an assignment. I need to get out of Kohona for a few days."

"Why is that?" Naruto's tone turned form enthusiastic teen to a concerned father. "What happened to you Sakura-chan?"

Sakura fell silent for a moment, but knew this was unavoidable.

"I ran into Sasuke last night." Sakura tried to sound confident, but when Naruto's eyes widened, she knew that this meeting was going to turn emotional.

Naruto opened his mouth to respond, but the door opened and Hinata reentered the room with a tray with three glasses.

Hinata smiled at them then set down the glasses in front of them before taking a sip of her own. Both Sakura and Naruto reached for their own glasses. Naruto gulped down the liquid in a few quick gulp when Sakura only took a sip, which she then discovered that the liquid was just plain water.

Naruto placed his cup back onto the desk then he looked at her again.

"What happened with Sasuke?"

"He approached me, that's all." Sakura shrugged and gripped the cup tight. She didn't want to give the extent of the encounter, but she knew Naruto would be persistent on all the details. "He also was acting a bit strange." She starred into the cup of water. She watched the ripples from her shaking hand as they formed inside the cup.

"How so?"

Sakura didn't know how to answer. Sasuke's attitude was strange. It was nice, kind, and caring at first, then he turned around and turned into a monster. Hate was all she could see in his eyes. She wanted to say all the right things about Sasuke, but she couldn't.

"I can't describe it, he was just…" Sakura's voice trailed off. She had no words to describe him. She loved him, but his attitude was strange and foreign.

"Hateful." Sakura looked up at Naruto when he said the word. She contorted her face with a confused expression. She could read Naruto well. Naruto seemed a bit sadden at the thought of Sasuke.

Had Naruto known about Sasuke's weird behavior?

Had she missed so much?

"Sasuke has been changing lately, hasn't he?" Sakura asked him.

Naruto nodded his head, then looked to Hinata, who bore a sad expression, but didn't speak.

"What has happened to our team Naruto?" Sakura placed her cup on the desk and slouched in her chair a bit.

The amazing genin team seven was falling apart, and both her and Naruto knew this.

"We grew up Sakura." Naruto's voice sounded a lot more mature than she's ever heard. She looked at his eyes and she could see him as the Hokage, not her loveable numbskull of a friend. She could see the old tired man that he had become.

He was right. Team Seven has grown up and grown apart. Their team could probably never be the same again and they all knew it. Ever since Sasuke left to go find power with Orochimaru, Naruto and Sakura grew close. Though when Naruto and Jiraya left to find Sasuke, the two fell apart. Sakura was forced to only depend on herself and to work on her training with Tsunade. Naruto returned with Sasuke, then everything fell apart completely. Naruto became Hokage and they all went their separate ways. Sakura was always working at the hospital and Sasuke was M.I.A.

There they were, Naruto and Sakura, sitting together with Naruto as the Hokage. Their friendship nearly destroyed and their best friend was on a strange attitude change. Sasuke must be still drunk on revenge, but neither of the wanted to acknowledge it. They both didn't want to believe that Sasuke could soon leave them again to run after his brother, who they don't even know was still alive. They wanted to live their lives believing their best friend was home and here to stay.

"That we did." Sakura whispered. "Why couldn't we have had an actual childhood with lots of happiness and carelessness?" She lowered her head and so did the Hokage.

Hinata, sensing the intensity, tried to lighten the mood.

"Would you go back and change all the moments?" Hinata asked, making Sakura's head rise. She thought about her answer.

"No, not for the world." She answered with a lot of confidence behind her voice. Naruto lifted an eye brow at her.

"Why? Why wouldn't you change anything? Don't you see how distant we all are now?" Naruto's tempers rose, but Sakura quickly silenced him.

"If history was different, you wouldn't be Hokage!" Naruto was taken aback by the comment, but knew she was right. If their childhood was normal, their lives would not have made such an impact on history as it does now. "I wouldn't be strong." Sakura whispered.

Naruto could feel her sorrow. He thought of her to be weak, only because she was a girl. But now he saw her as a woman, a strong kunoichi. She could see that if she wasn't put through the isolation and harsh training, she would still be swooning and sighing over Sasuke Uchiha and fighting with Ino.

"If history was different, we would all be in different places, and it might be a good thing." Hinata stated, "But wishing history to change will not change it, only allow it progress in the same order. Make it change if need be."

Sakura starred at Hinata. She had sure grown wise. She was indirectly referring to the Sasuke situation. She just told Naruto and Sakura to get up and confront him to change their outcome.

She told them to reform Team Seven.

"What the hell are you talking about Hinata-chan?" Naruto gave Hinata a confused expression when he didn't understand her poetic speech. Both Hinata and Sakura giggled under their hands at their comrade.

Hokage or not, he was still oblivious little Naruto.

"What's so funny?" Naruto placed his head in his hand and scowled at the two kunoichi. They only continued to giggle.

Once their giggle fit subsided, Sakura picked up her water again and took a large gulp. She sighed when she finished the glass. She then remembered why she originally came.

"Now, Naruto-kun, about the assignment." She folded her hands back in front of her.

Naruto clear and throat and nodded. He began to shift through some papers. He looked over some, but some back, and shook his head over some. He did this for several minutes and Sakura began to fidget.

"Ah!" Naruto pulled out a single paper along that was beneath a bunch of others and held it in front of him. "Here" Naruto held out the mission slip to Sakura.

She grabbed it quickly and read it over.

"A mission to Sand?" Sakura smiled at him. She missed going to sand because she missed one of her old friends Temari. They haven't spoke for years, but she knew Temari still was friend.

Naruto nodded his head.

"And I'll be going with an ANBU team?"

"With Shikamaru, Neji, and Sai." Naruto smiled at her, knowing her excitement.

And Sakura was indeed excited about this mission. She was good friends with Neji and Shikamaru, even though she hasn't talked with them in a while. Sai was a different story though, he always insulted her. She would just ignore him though.

She accepted the mission. She needed to leave Kohona for a bit. This mission seemed to only take a day or two. The hospital could hold their own for a little bit. Being able to have some other human interaction would help her as well. She hadn't gone a mission in a while and she felt like she was going to jump from her seat. Her anticipation was unbearable.

"I'll take it." She stood up and handed the paper back to the Hokage. He stood up as well and smiled at her. She reached across the desk and wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into a hug. He hugged her back.

The hug made the two of them relieve their memories. Their memories of the easy times before Orochimaru. They felt a missing piece though. Sasuke wasn't there, but soon they could feel that they could potentially change history.

With this hug, they both made a promise to bring Sasuke back.

Sakura released Naruto and said her goodbye's to both Naruto and Hinata. She waved goodbye before exiting the office then walking home quickly. She needed to get home quickly to get ready for the mission that was tomorrow.

Sakura quickly entered her home once again and prepared for her first mission in a long, long time.

The next morning, Sakura felt like she arrived at the gates of Kohona before anyone else. The kunoichi was always punctual and despised every essence of tardiness. Despite her impatience for tardiness, she had to learn quickly to deal having her sensei being Kakashi and her teammate being Naruto.

When she walked to the gate, she could see that Neji was already standing against the wall just outside the gate. He didn't seem to notice her. His arms were crossed against his chest, in one of his hands was his eagle mask, and he frowned into the sky. Often times, Sakura would catch Neji staring at the birds in the sky. His silver eyes would be focused on the birds as if he was studying them. For a while Sakura believed that he had some sort of bird fetish, but as she grew older, she thought there could be a deeper meaning to his observations.

"Good morning Neji-san." Sakura's voice caught Neji off guard, which is surprising for a byakugan wielder. He turned to look at her with bright eyes.

"What are you doing here Haruno-san?" Neji remained against the wall in his ANBU uniform. Sakura had never seen him wear one before.

"Naruto-kun assigned me to this mission as a medic Neji-san." Sakura folded her hands in front of her and tried to give the sweetest look on the earth, but she should've known better.

Neji's frown deepened. No kunoichi's seductive charm could ever move Neji. You could say Neji was immune to the charm of a woman, but in return couldn't hold any charm of his own.

"Tell me Haruno-san, why would an ANBU team require a medic on a traveling mission to Sand? A mission that only requires a mission with the Kazekage?" Neji starred straight at Sakura as he spoke. In the Hyuuga family, dishonesty was unforgiveable.

Sakura gave a cheesy grin and shuffled her feet a bit. Neji narrowed his eyes at the pinkette and opened his mouth to send her away when Shikamaru arrived at the gate.

As he approached the two of them he muttered a simple 'yo' and kept his hands in his pockets.

When his eyes caught hold of the pink hued hair, he raised an eye brow.

Sakura opened her mouth to explain to Shikamaru when she was cut off.

"She's here as your medic, you know, as a precaution."

The three turned to see their Hokage standing behind them, next to him stood their last teammate, Sai. Naruto smiled then pulled out a scroll. He tossed it to Shikamaru, the leader, which contained all the mission assignments.

Catching with ease, Shikamaru quickly unrolled the first part of it and confirmed that all four of their names were written sloppily, Naruto's writing, onto the parchment.

"I see." Shikamaru gave the names one last look over before closing the scroll completely. Shikamaru didn't seem too exciting with having Sakura in his squad.

_'Too troublesome. Women.' _Shikamaru internally sighed, but place the scroll in his bag and prepared to depart. "Are we ready? I want to get going so we can be back by tomorrow night."

Sakura could feel the anticipation setting in. It had been so long that she had set foot out of the village.

"Wait Sakura." Naruto pulled out a mask from his robe. He held it towards Sakura and she quickly wrapped her porcelain fingers around the mask. She saw that it was a white and red cat ANBU mask. She ran her finger across the Kohona symbol carved right below the eye. She had never worn a mask like this before, but she felt excited to wear the mask. She needed to get out for a bit.

Neji and Shikamaru bowed their heads to Naruto before signaling to depart. They jumped into the trees and Sai followed quickly afterward. Sakura turned to Naruto and gave him a big goodbye smile before adjusting her backpack and following the others in the trees.

Naruto watched Sakura disappeared into the trees.

He gave one last look into the trees before reentering the village.


	3. Chapter 2

_**Authors note: Right on schedule! Hope you enjoy this next chapter.**_

_**Disclaimer: I own the plot, not the characters.**_

::Chapter Two::

The wind quickly whipped through Sakura's bubblegum hair. Each strand whipped quietly against the wind. She seemed emotionless under her cat ANBU mask, but in all reality, she was grinning ear to ear. She fell behind the group, but kept her fast pace. As she pushed herself off the branches, she had to bite her tongue to hold back her excitement. It's been a while since she's pranced through these trees that were full of nostalgia from her genin times. She has not smelled the sweet scent of the spring leaves and oak for a long time. The skies began to slowly turn dark and a slight drizzle began to fall. Each rain drop fell softly against the trees and against her porcelain skin. The water felt heavenly against her skin as it washed away all of her stress from these past few years. Her light pink apron swayed around her as her legs pushed against the wood.

Sakura wished she had remembered that she was going to be with the ANBU while preparing this morning, because she felt a little over dress. The point of the ANBU mask was to conceal their identities, but anyone who knew who Haruno was they would recognize her pink apron, crimson shirt, and pink hair.

In the sea of green leaves, Sakura stood out like a sore thumb.

After a couple more hours of silence and rushing through the trees, the rain began to fall harder. The branches beneath them began to slip from underneath their shoes. Sakura could feel herself struggling with the slickness of the tree bark. With one last landing, she felt herself slip forward.

"Fuck." She heaved out as she felt her stomach drop to her shoes. She knew she couldn't grab onto a tree, they were all too slick. As she neared the ground, she only prayed it would be an injury she could fix quickly.

Suddenly her collar was jerked up and she stopped in the air. She looked down and saw she was still up about 30 feet, which look to surly break a bone or two.

"You're a pain." Shikamaru called down to her. She looked up to see him holding onto her collar. Even through the mask, he could see she had a sly smile. Sighing, he pulled her up to the branch he was on.

Sakura plopped down on the branch and let her legs swing a bit before taking off her mask, revealing her beautiful emerald eyes to the world. Sai appeared beside her and was about to speak about her mask, but Shikamaru gave him a glare that said, let it go.

"Sorry about that. I lost my footing." Shikamaru officially saw her smile when she turned her head up the top of the trees. She could see the storm clouds rolling through the leaves. The rain pelted her face, which was strangely comfortable. Her hair was drenched completely, and if she was younger, she would be ready to kill the next person to have her precious hair dryer. Today, she didn't care. All she wanted to do was enjoy the rain.

The rain was the tears of the heavens washing away her problems for the time being.

"Whatever." Shikamaru shifted his weight from one leg to another and folded his arms against his chest. "It is getting pretty slick, so precaution will have to be taken. But we can't stop here. We have to keep moving."

"I know." Sakura shook her head. "I know…" Her voice trailed off as she closed her eyes and let the rain fall across her eyelids.

Sai watched her, taking in every artistic feature about her.

"Why are you sitting there like an idiot, Ugly?" Sai spoke down at the drenched kunoichi. Her eyebrow twitched, but she didn't react. She was used to his insults and she could lie that she kind of missed them due to her isolation from everyone.

"Why are you staring weirdo?" She spoke with confidence, but still did not move from her sitting position. "Draw a picture, it lasts longer." Sai opened his mouth to retaliate when Neji hopped down to their branch.

"Why aren't you moving?" Neji hissed at the trio. Sai folded his arms against his chest. He hated being cut off.

"Are you boss man now?" Sakura finally opened her eyes and gave him a cool look. He glared at her. His fist was clenched at the kunoichi's slyness.

"No, but it looks as if our leader is slacking. As always." Neji shot a glare at Shikamaru and he returned the greeting. Tension built between Shikamaru and Neji. Sakura could tell Neji was a bit jealous of Shikamaru due to his role in this mission. He was appointed leader by Naruto, so he somehow earned the respect. Sakura could see Neji as a leader, but Shikamaru's tactical approaches proved to be extremely helpful in all missions.

"We were just about to leave." Shikamaru gave one last glare to Neji before turning from him. Sakura could tell he was surveying the area before they were going to depart.

Sakura pushed herself up and straightened her drenched apron. She ran her fingers a few times through her wet hair before she felt a cold chill run down her spine.

'_I shouldn't have forgotten a cloak.'_ She mentally kicked herself for her forgetfulness. She was going to shiver this entire mission due to her own stupidity.

Neji watched her shiver. Her pale skin began to blue and goose bumps began to rise. If she didn't get dry or at least covered soon, she would slip into hypothermia. Without thought, Neji pulled his cloak out of his bag and threw it over her head.

Sakura gasped quickly before peering out from underneath the fabric. She saw Neji giving her a strange look. She couldn't quite read it.

"Come prepared next time." He fixed his pack against his back then hopped next to Shikamaru, obviously over his grudge.

Sakura fixed the cloak around her properly. Sai shook his head a bit and tsked. He pulled his mask up slightly. She could finally see his face.

"Bipolar much?"

Sakura chuckled at him. She hit him softly on the arm.

"Shut up you." She giggled and she finally got a smile out of him. She gave him one last grin before she pulled her mask back down over her face. Sai felt a bit warm when she gave him that sweet smile. Sakura's smile seemed to have an awesome impact on people. Her smile could kill.

"Okay, let's head out." Shikamaru called to them before leaping into the trees along with Neji. Sai and Sakura quickly jumped behind them, unaware of a certain pair of chakra signatures lingering behind them in the distance.

They were close to the border of Sand, as reported by Shikamaru. She didn't quite remember the route to Sand, despite the fact she had gone there countless times to meet the Kazekage and her dear old friend Temari. The rain was still coming down pretty hard now as they came closer to the eye of the storm. It was starting to make it nearly impossible to see. She clutched Neji's cloak tighter as she leaped cautiously from branch to branch. She felt bad for wearing the cloak because Neji was the only one without the cloak. She could see Neji was drenched from head to toe but his steps never faltered.

The once pleasant rain began to irritate her. She was cold and wet and now she didn't like it. Her senses were completely screwed up due to the rain as well. She couldn't see that far away from her, all she could smell was damp foliage, all she could hear was rain, and she also could focus on any chakra detection. She couldn't even tell if Neji or Shikamaru had a signature or not.

Sakura wasn't the only one with a struggle with senses. Neji strained his Byakugan to the max potential, but still couldn't even make out if there was a bird in a bush. Everything about him was off at the moment.

Thunder clapped loudly, startling Sakura a bit. Sakura nearly stumbled out of the tree again, but caught herself. Lightning flashed brightly and blinded the team for a moment. Neji tripped over his heels and fell forward. Before falling he swung back around on to the branches again.

"Be cautious! It's getting worse!" Neji called back to the rest of them.

"No shit Sherlock." Sakura muttered, but pressed on. Neji turned to glare at her, but he once again tripped over his heels, not falling as dramatic as before. Sakura giggled at him loudly.

The laughing ceased when another ear splitting clap of thunder erupted through the sky.

The rain fell even harder in sheets that nearly blinded the team. They continued to jump through the rain. The weight of their drenched clothes started to slow their movements. Their once quick paced shinobi skills seemed to slow down to a walk.

"This storm is horrible." Sakura groaned as she held Neji's cloak close to her. She felt her legs begin to turn to lead. She missed doing missions, but not treading through the forest in this large storm.

"We are almost to the border and the storm should subside soon." Sai called to her as he pushed past her. To her, the rain didn't seem to slow him down. Before she knew it, she began falling behind the group entirely. The three of them began to fade into the distance. The visibility had been cut to nearly zero.

"Sai!" Sakura yelled loudly, bur her shout was covered by another loud clap of thunder. "Neji!" She called out again, but could only hear the rain. She kept leaping from tree to tree.

She was lost and was separated from her teammates.

Being alone in a forest in the middle of the storm had to be the most frightening thing at the moment. She carelessly pushed herself off the branches. Panic began to overwhelm her. She was going against her training, but she knew she wasn't going to be safe out in the middle of nowhere.

The branch beneath her slid out from her once again. Her stomach dropped to her feet once again, but this time there was not going to be a savior such as Shikamaru. For all she knew, they could already gone miles in front of her. She could've gotten herself in the zero visibility and utter panic.

She tried to grab a branch, but missed it by an inch.

She hit the ground in with a loud splat into an accumulating puddle of mud. Her ANBU mask came flying off and bounced in the mud. She landed onto her shoulder, sending pain throughout her body. She gasped in pain. She could feel a fracture in her shoulder.

Pushing herself up to a sitting position, she took her clock sleeve and wiped off the gooey mud on her face. The bone in her shoulder cried out as she moved. She grabbed hold of it and doubled over, screaming out in pain.

The kunoichi had not experienced a pain like this in a long time. She only helped nurse the wounds back at the hospital. Paper cuts were the worst things to her.

The falling rain around her seemed to grow louder and louder. The sound was nearly unbearable to her ears. The rain seemed to create a barrier from the world around her. No sound, no visual, on the rain.

Then, through the rain, Sakura heard a small chime.

Her eyes shot up and side to side as she held onto her shoulder. The barrier of rain wouldn't allow her to find the source of the sound.

The phantom chime sounded again.

And again.

It was coming closer.

"Who's there?" Sakura called out into the rain with confidence, but chimes and rain only replied. She tried to push herself up to a standing position, but her shoulder slowed her movement. She felt like the world was going up against her.

The chime sound was close.

She turned to the left where the sound finally was pinpointed. She squinted her eyes through the rain. Two figures appeared through the trees, both with no definite shape.

The chimes began to sound louder as the figures began to close in on her. The figures looked as foggy as a bad TV connection. Through the rain, blurry red clouds appeared on the figures.

_'Akatsuki!'_

Sakura could see their black cloaks were pulled up over their chins and their signature straw hats pulled over their eyes. There was no way to tell their identity. She had never seen an Akatsuki member before, but could recognize their key features. She also knew about a few members, including Sasuke's older brother, Itachi Uchiha. She couldn't tell if he was one of the members before her.

The members finally stopped in front of her. Only ten feet separated her from blood thirsty murders.

To the members, she must've looked like a deer caught in headlights. Her emerald eyes were wide as she stared at them. She didn't want to show fear because shinobi must show no emotion, but how could she not fear them?

Especially if Itachi was in front of her.

She pushed herself up taller and slowly reached for a kunai in her pouch. She tried to look confident, but she knew they could see right through her.

"Draw your weapon." A velvety, bass voice emitted from the shorter of the two members.

She hesitated.

She couldn't tell if the person was challenging her or mocking her.

When her fingers curled around the hilt of her kunai and she prepared to attack, four shuriken flew past her toward the members. The taller member whipped out a large sword wrapped in bandages to deflect the shuriken. The bandages at the tip of the sword were cut to reveal the scaly base.

"Move Haruno-san!" Neji sprinted past her armed with kunai. Sakura noticed Sai and Shikamaru on both sides of her. Neji pounced on the shorter member and their kunai collided. The taller one aimed their sword to strike but he had to use the sword to stop the kunai and shuriken that were thrown by Shikamaru and Sai. Sai pulled out his scroll and brush and quickly drew out a beast. The beast lunged at tall figure and bit down on his arm.

The member grunted in pain. Shikamaru lunged with a kunai and attempted to stab at the shoulder, but the figure used the beast to knock him back.

Sakura stood back with kunai in her hands. She could feel adrenaline seeping through her veins from watching the fight.

She had not participated in a spar in forever.

Letting the adrenaline take her, Sakura pushed forward and used her kunai to stab at Neji's opponent, who seemed to be giving Neji a problem. She had not anticipated her opponent actually retaliating. Her opponent pushed back Neji then kicked Sakura in the stomach, sending her flying. She cried out when she hit tree and nearly broke it in two. She felt light headed and out of breath from the impact. Dizziness was around her. The rain that was falling was the only thing keeping her awake.

Neji prepared himself for the gentle fist. He went for the attack and his opponent was surprising faster than him. He grabbed his arm and quickly twisted it around. The horrible sound of bones cracking echoed as loud as the falling rain. Neji groaned loudly, but even through the pain, he pulled out a kunai and slashed at his face. The kunai missed his face, but caught the rim of the straw hat, knocking it off it's position.

Sakura watched the hat fall to the wet forest floor.

In slow motion, her emerald eyes then traveled from pale straw hat, up the dark cloak, to the blood red sharingan staring straight into her.

Neji watched the man as his eyes narrowed on his female teammate. He recognized the kekki genkai and watched in slight horror as the tomoe of his eyes begin to swirl.

"Close your eyes!" Neji screamed to Sakura, but it was too late. Sakura was already falling into the Mangekyou's Tsukuyomi.

Before she could think, Sakura was already rendered unconscious. Her body collapsed and she fell back down to the muddy forest floor.

"Sakura!" Neji screamed out and ripped his arm from the man. Neji's broken arm hung loosely against the wind. Sai and Shikamaru watched Neji run to the fallen kunoichi.

"Oi, keep your eyes on me." The tall member swung his sword at the two, catching their attention.

Before Neji reached Sakura, the sharingan man was next to the girl. The man seemed to have abnormal speed. He attempted to lock gazes with Neji, but Neji averted his eyes and jumped to the side to avoid two kunai that flew towards him.

When he looked back to the pinkette, the man had her in his arms. Her hair fell against her face as sweet droplets fell from the sky.

"Get your hands off her!" Neji growled at the man and lunged. The man took one hand from Sakura and quickly hit Neji on the back of his neck, knocking him out.

The man glared down at the now knocked out shinobi, but turned his gaze back to the girl in his arms. The rain cascaded down her face making rivers in every crevasse. Her hair stuck to her face and with his fingers, he pushed the pieces of hair out of her face. His fingers moved to her chin, but he didn't dare to linger. He pulled up her cloak to cover her neck and pulled her into his chest to attempt to shield her from the rain.

"Let's go." The man spoke loud enough for his partner to hear. Slowly the man picked his hat back up and placed it on top of his head. Shikamaru and Sai turned again to see their fallen partner on the wet forest floor.

"Looks like it's time for me to wrap things up." The tallest member chuckled under his breath, then swung his sword at Sai and Shikamaru's back. Shikamaru jumped away in time, but Sai was struck. His clothes were shredded and multiple gashes were cut deep into his back. Sai grunts in pain and doubles over while Shikamaru jumps back to him and catches him.

"You can't attack someone with their back turned!" Shikamaru called to the tall member. He chuckled in response before strapping his sword to his back.

"I'm no angel."

The tall member jumped away from the fallen shinobi to join his partner. Shikamaru turned to curse at the two Akatsuki again, but the sound of the bells signaled their departure. The forest grew quiet as the only thing that was heard was the silent grunts of Sai. Shikamaru held his incapacitated partner as he looked back at his fallen partner.

"This entire mission is a drag." Shikamaru mumbled under his breath before pulling out his med kit to help Sai patch up. He knew he had to get his partners back to the village as quickly as possible.

"What the hell was that all about?" Sai breathed out as Shikamaru tried to use gauze to stop the bleeding, but the rain was drenching the gauze before he could start.

"Beats me, those damn Akatsuki think they are all gods." Shikamaru sighed as he pulled out another gauze and successfully made contact with Sai's wound. Sai hissed in pain.

"But why the hell would they take Sakura?" Sai asked, noticing Sakura's ANBU mask was submerged into the mud. To Sai, Sakura didn't seem like a reasonable target for a kidnapping against Kohona, so why did they take her? Why didn't the Akatsuki kill her?

"I have no idea, but we have to go back, we can't complete this mission with one injury and one down and another missing. We must go back to the village to recuperate." Shikamaru finished patching up Sai before standing up. Sai sat on the ground, wishing Sakura was here to heal his wounds.

Sai's eyes caught sight of the mask again. Slowly, he pushed himself up, but the pain shot through his body. He held his sides while he tried to stand. Shikamaru left Sai to get Neji, so if he fell, he was going to fall. He stabled his self and walked slowly to the mask.

He pulled it out of the mud and watched the mud drip off the white paint.

Shikamaru walked next to him with Neji on his back. They stood for a moment, starring at the cat mask.

"Let's go." Shikamaru whispered and Sai nodded silently to him.

Once they got home, they knew the Hokage would be ballistic when he found out Haruno was missing in action.

A certain Uchiha would also be a tad bit upset with the news as well.


	4. Chapter 3

**Authors Note: On schedule but rushed a tad bit. Finals week is here and it's distracted me from my work, but here's the next chapter ready for your eyes.**

::Chapter Three::

Rain splattered across the cloaks of the two Akatsuki members leaping from branch to branch in silent, swift motions. One member kept his blue palm on the hilt of his sword, his eyes shifting slyly through the rain, his eyes searching for any sudden movements. The other member clutched his cloak and a petite pink haired girl to his chest, attempting to shield her from the rain.

"Was it truly necessary to mangle those brats?" The blue member called to the other, whom was silent. The wind attempted to force off his straw hat, but he used one hand to hold down the rim. His eyes fell to the girl lying unconscious in his arms. Her expression was so at ease despite the fact that she had just endured the excruciating pain of the Tsukuyomi. She had to be wanting to plead to the grim to kill her. He couldn't remember exactly what he put her through, due to his dismissing control on his own sharingan. He could tell she was strong, which might have been the reason why he felt the impulse to take her in his arms.

He had never felt such an impulse for a woman.

"Itachi listen to me!" The blue member groaned. "What exactly are you going to tell leader about the girl?"

The Uchiha turned his head back forward, ignoring his partner.

"You know when he sees here she'll die!" The blue member was clearly annoyed. Lighting cracked against the sky, illuminating the area with a blinding white light.

"Silence Kisame." Itachi's voice bellowed through the rain. Kisame's tiny eyes widened a bit. "Forget about her and don't speak another word to any soul about her." Itachi pulled her closer, as if protecting her from the world. The Uchiha protected the young kunoichi with gentle care. His steps were not as rough as usual. He pranced from each rain soaked branch with ease, attempting to cradle her like a baby. He kept his cloaked wrapped around her body, trying to keep her warm.

Itachi didn't know what exactly he was doing. He had never had a true attraction to any other women in his lifetime. Never has he had this desire to hold her. To quench his desire, he always held onto whores to easily satisfy him. His body and mind wouldn't let him treat this girl like a whore though. He held her like a tiny flower, threatening to shrivel up and die without the proper care. He could feel her pure chakra pouring out of her. Also the obvious signal of her being a medical nin, which was extremely powerful. This girl lying unconscious in his arms had major potential in her life. And did he just rip her from her life?

Was Itachi feeling regret?

Itachi shook off the thoughts and decided to remain his emotionless Uchiha he was, even with the emotions threatening to pour out.

Kisame looked to his partner as he pondered his thoughts. "Well if you want to hide her at base? You know the moment she enters the base, everyone will know."

Itachi ignored his fish friend, but knew he was right. The moment Sakura's perfectly pure chakra touched the walls of the base, every Akatsuki member inside would know of her presence. There was no hiding her. Her pure essence inside of the forever tainted walls of the Akatsuki lair won't be easy to hide.

Itachi felt a tad bit of dread filling his body, but naturally fought the feeling back down.

They were slowly approaching the base and the both of them could feel what was to come.

Itachi and Kisame entered the underground tunnel in silence. As they walked, Kisame watched Itachi adjust Sakura to a more comfortable position under his cloak. Her pink hair still stuck out underneath the black and red clouds, but Itachi knew it was useless to fix it. The others already knew she was here. He could already feel their chakra signatures bustling.

"What are you going to do with her?" Kisame broke the silence as they walked deeper into the tunnel. The light from the front of the tunnel slowly started to dissipate.

"Don't worry about it." Itachi spoke in a monotone octave, trying to hide his uncertainty with the topic.

"I just want to know if you're going to fuck her then dispose her like all of the other whores. I want to know if this isn't going to be permanent." Kisame bluntly stated to the Uchiha, whom had to fight back his anger.

"She is not a whore. What happened to you not speaking of her?" Itachi snapped in the calmest way possible, but on the inside he wanted to rip off Kisame's gills.

Itachi was taken aback by his thoughts and feelings. He had never seen himself as an emotional wreck as of now. He never thought he would ever show any emotion to his partner. Emotion was a property of him that he kept locked up inside. Itachi never was one to show his emotions, but because of this girl, he felt a rush of feelings over him. He felt like an annoying teenager.

"Whatever mate." Kisame shrugged as they approached the door. The corridor was dark. The light from the beginning of the tunnel was completely diminished. "You can keep your whore secret for two seconds." Kisame placed his hand on the door knob and pushed it open before Itachi could call him out.

When the door open, the light from the bright living room flooded against the partners. Itachi attempted to enter the room with ease, but all eyes had turned to him. His eyes scanned the room and he could see that most of the Akatsuki sat in the room either drinking sake, tea, or eating, or at least was.

"Yo." Kisame waved, trying to act normal. He swiftly removed his straw hat and took off his cloak with ease, but all attention was on the body underneath of Itachi's cloak. His kind attempt to form a distraction was a lost. Itachi strengthened his grip on the body as one of the members with gray hair stood up. He had a curious, yet sinister look on his face.

Itachi gripped tightly on the girl then swiftly passed the man, giving him a look of 'back off'. He ignored the rest of the confused faces and rushed through the next corridor. As he walked down the red corridor, he passed many rooms. Confused voices erupted that were directed towards Kisame erupted from the main room. Itachi could feel their confusion. He was confused himself. He couldn't figure out how he could caress this little girl in his arms. She was young, but beautiful. If he was beautiful to him, which he was tough to impress, she would be beautiful to the others. He had to keep her locked away. He couldn't have anyone touching her.

As he reached the last door, he opened it swiftly and entered the dark room. He entered the holding cell and stopped to think. What was wrong with Uchiha Itachi? The malicious and ruthless murder of his famous clan, Itachi, was carrying a beautiful young girl in his arms with desire in his eyes.

He couldn't figure out what was really wrong with him. He was emotionless. But this girl changed him with her lovely figure and her emerald green eyes.

Her eyes were what caught him in a trance. Her eyes were all he was looking as he sparred with the Hyuuga brat from the woods earlier. Her eyes were a beautiful green that reminded him of the grassy meadows he used to visit when he was a child. He would sit in the open plains with the flowers growing around him. He'd pluck a flower then pluck off the petals. He would release them into the wind and watch them swirl around the sky until they reached the heavens. Those days were as beautiful as she was.

He brought her to the farthest wall and finally took her out from under his cloak. He placed her softly against the ground. Her hair pooled around her in a beautiful manner. The way her hair fell loosely around her face beckoned him to brush them away. He wanted to touch his new toy. He could feel his desire rising inside of him. Her beautiful porcelain face enticed him.

Itachi watched as the cold floor started to cause her to stir under him. He wished to touch her, but he knew the moment she woke, she would question her surroundings.

If she found out who he was, she would attempt to kill him.

As he watched her eyes slowly slide open, she started to mumble out words of gibberish.

He listened closely and could eventually make out the name Sasuke.

Itachi's anger grew a bit and he was forced to improvise to seize the opportunity.

Sakura's eyes felt heavy and her head was pounding immensely. She felt like she had slept for days with a constant pain residing inside her brain. She couldn't remember anything that had happened. She knew she had gone on a mission with Shikamaru, Neji, and Sai, but that was all. The sudden flash of a red blur was then the next thing she could recall, but the image went as quickly as it came. She couldn't remember the mission, nor where she was.

Her vision was blurry as she tried to open them wider. She could see a light from the front of the room pouring in. A door was open. She could evaluate she was in an unknown room. The ground was cold and foreign. She couldn't smell anything. Everything seemed still. She tried to call out to the world, but her tongue seemed tied. She felt she couldn't speak at all.

Her eyes searched the room for a chakra signature. She couldn't find one, but found a figure standing in front of her. She saw the figure as tall and broad shouldered. She knew it was a male and called out the only possible name.

"Sasuke?" She whispered out finally. The figure then bent down and came into her view, and to her surprise it was Sasuke. His spiky hair was a sheer sign of her former crush. She always loved the way Sasuke wore his hair. His bright red eyes were the next thing she noticed, as they were staring deep within her. She could feel her old teenage love flourish within her.

"Hello." Sasuke smiled a foreign smile. Sakura had never seen him smile at her like this before. It made her slightly uncomfortable. He moved his face closer to hers. She couldn't help but turn red. She felt like she wasn't completely sane. Was this really Sasuke? He didn't seem like Sasuke.

His eyes stared deep into hers, forcing her to feel like she was being burned alive with desire.

"Where am I Sasuke?" Sakura questioned him and attempted to sit up, but Sasuke's hand fell upon her shoulder.

"Stay down." Sasuke's voice was like pure velvet. Sakura obediently froze under his touch. "You're safe now."

Sakura felt his loving tone in her ears, but still couldn't help but feel a bit of anxiety from her missing comrades.

"But where is Neji?" She shifted under his hand uncomfortable. "And Sai and Shikamaru?" She looked passed him to look around the room, but her attention was called back when he moved his face closer to her own. His nose was nearly inches from her own.

All of her anxiety turned from her comrades to her teen love in front of her. Sasuke's hand cupped her cheek and tilted her head a bit, exposing her neck. She could feel adrenaline flowing inside of her. A partner had not touched her in a long time. She longed for a loving touch. He took his lips and planted soft kisses down her neck, causing her shudder under his embrace. His kisses traveled down to her collar bones and up again. Her mouth opened slightly as he neared her jaw line.

This was weird to her. Sasuke had never shown this kind of affection to her. Just yesterday she had broken some bones on him for touching her, but why was she letting him kiss on her? Was this some kind of sick joke?

"Sasuke-kun? What are you doing?" She breathed out as his kisses caused pleasure to crash out of her. Sasuke was never one to show affection, but why now?

Sasuke didn't answer her, only trailed the kisses up her jaw to her ear. He used his tongue to lick up her ear causing Sakura to moan under him. His touch was like ecstasy to her. Her body yearned for the touch of a lover, especially Sasuke. Sakura had only dreamed of being loved by Sasuke. She dreamed of his touch upon her body at night. She dreamed of his kisses against her skin. She dreamed of him being a real person in her life.

But it was weird to actually feel it. She long ago had thrown away the dream of his touch and kisses against her skin.

"Sasuke-kun, please." She pulled her hands to push him away, but he grabbed her wrists softly and held them in between his hands.

She didn't know what to do under his grip. His grip was powerful yet loving. He wanted her to feel the love, but she couldn't let him. This was too good to be true.

She struggled, but Sasuke only held on tighter. He pulled her into a kiss and kissed her with such passion it stopped her dead in her tracks. Sakura felt every nerve fire and everything in her body relax. This kiss was the best feeling in the entire world. Her world feel to black as passion overwhelmed her.

She forgot where she was and what was going on.

She could only feel Sasuke.

She only wanted to feel Sasuke. She loved him so much.

Sasuke deepened the kiss and she responded. Sakura didn't want it to end. She just wanted to stay in his embrace and let him love her unconditionally.

But that feeling was what made her uneasy. She couldn't help but wonder why Sasuke was acting this way.

Sasuke never was affectionate to her.

He never noticed her.

She had to stop this before it went too far without answering her questions.

Sasuke halted her in her tracks and grabbed her shoulders to deepen the kiss even more, blocking out her thought. He ran his hand down her arm to her thigh, tickling her skin. She shuddered under him, feeling herself growing warm. She could sense the sexual desire inside his kisses, which pushed her back into reality. She couldn't let herself give her to him. Not now.

"Stop." She broke away from the kiss, but he attempted to capture his lips again. She pushed him away. "Sasuke please."

Sasuke stopped and looked into her eyes. She could see the sexual desire in his eyes, but she had to ignore the looks taunting her.

"Sasuke please tell me what's going on." She pleaded to him. She straightened up. "I don't know where we are, I'm confused. Please help me understand." She wanted to know why she was in an empty room with her Uchiha love. As much as she would've liked to continue their love session, she had to figure out answers.

"You're safe, that's all that matters." Sasuke's voice seemed a bit stern and uneasy, as if he was uncertain.

"I still want to know where I am, is that too hard to ask?"

"Is it too hard to understand that you're safe?"

Sakura began to feel annoyed with Sasuke. She pushed him away farther and huffed.

"Tell me where I am damnit! You can't kiss on me and expect me to fall into your trance! Answer my question!" Sakura glared at him.

Sasuke chuckled then neared her face again. She felt a blush run up her cheeks again. "That's not the way you were acting before, my dear." He smiled, making her uneasy.

She felt speech less. He was right. She was falling deep into his seduction. Her face grew beet red as he nuzzled his face into her neck. His breath was warm against her skin and soothed every inch he touched. Her body bucked under his touch.

She tried to breathe out his name again, but when she tried it came out in a slight moan. Her body was enjoying every bit of this, but she couldn't let this continue.

Without warning, Sakura gained up the courage to build enough chakra in her palm to push Sasuke away without being harmed. Sasuke fell back onto his bottom on the cold floor.

The air around Sakura seemed to change. The air turned from the perfumed sense of a bedroom to a room full mold and mildew. She felt a weight on her chest be lifted as she recognized a genjutsu being lifted off her mind.

She growled into the air, realizing how stupid she was. "Who are you!" She demanded from the Sasuke impersonator. Sakura Haruno was never one to fall for genjutsus. She had learned her lesson from one of her first memories as a genin.

The Sasuke impersonator pushed himself up slowly. Sakura could see his sharingan eyes piercing through her soul, shattering a bit of her strength. She knew who this man was.

Instead of her Sasuke standing over her, it was instead Sasuke's ruthless brother Itachi. His face seemed to belong to an older man, but she knew he wasn't that old. She could tell his eyes bore the witness to many things. His ebony hair was pulled back at the nape of his neck, but his bangs fell loosely against the frame of his face.

Sakura couldn't say anything as Itachi stood above her, staring at her the way she saw Sasuke looking at her in the genjutsu. She couldn't believe that such an evil man could pretend to have such love and compassion for a single woman. The Akatsuki was never a bunch to have been believed to hold a lot of emotional attachment to anyone

Itachi was as confused as the girl beneath him. He could see the soul searching eyes she possessed that called out to him begging for answers, but he knew he couldn't give her answers.

He couldn't answer himself.

Sakura watched him turn away quickly and head for the door.

"Hey wait!" She called out to him as she struggled to stand up. "Why am I here?" She wasn't about to let him leave her alone in this room without any questions being answered. Itachi didn't stop as he moved through the door way and slammed the door behind him, killing the light. Sakura reached the door and tried to open it again, but found it only to be locked. She jiggled the brass handle hard as she put her body against the door. She didn't have enough strength to do much of anything. His genjutsu seemed to take a lot out of her.

"Come back here you bastard!" The petite kunoichi screamed out as she resulted to pounding on the door. With each hit, she dented the door but with no good results. On a normal day, she could easily break down the door, but her energy and chakra seemed to be depleting significantly. She screamed out as she gave one last punch at the door. Feeling exhaustion overwhelm her, she slid down to the floor.

She couldn't understand why she was here or even what was going on. Her world was currently being torn to pieces by this confusing man.

She slowly crawled back to the wall she was originally at and laid on her back, staring at the dark ceiling. The smell of the room was wicked and stung her nose, but she attempted to ignore it. She couldn't help but close her eyes, hoping she could just dream this all away. She believed if she fell asleep, maybe she would wake up and see that this was all just a nightmare.

But Sakura knew that nightmares were always around her. Life was always filled with dreams and nightmares that could haunt you forever. She wanted to cry out and scream out at the world like she used to as a child, but she was stronger and wiser now. She knew about the evils of the world and the horrors of life. She couldn't cry. She had to think. Thinking was going to be the only thing that was to save her inside of this foreign territory.

As Sakura began to fall into a nightmare filled sleep, she realized one characteristic of the room she resided in.

A chakra bond resides in the walls.


	5. Chapter 4

_**Authors note: Thought it would've been appreciated to go ahead and post early! Enjoy!**_

Sakura couldn't feel anything. She laid there emotionless on the cold hard floor. Her rosette hair was cascaded all onto the floor from her constant tossing and turning. She wanted to scream out for help, but she knew it would be useless. Nobody would come to help her. Her voice would only reverb off the stone walls of her cell. No one outside would hear her. She resided deep within the Akatsuki in a place unknown to Kohona. She didn't even know what region she was in. There were no windows in the holding cell, so she couldn't even tell if it was day or night. But from the dew littering the stone of the cell indicated they were underground. There was no light, except for the light surrounding the door frame, giving the little indication there was a world outside of the cell.

Sakura thought about her team mates during the hours she was left alone in the cell. She remembered how Neji was so rude to her during their mission, but he was giving her the sweetest moments. She still had the cloak he gave her wrapped around her like a security blanket. She could still hear Shikamaru faintly complaining within the memories. She could still see Sai's faint smile he had given her before the rain overwhelmed them. She longed to see them again. They weren't a team for long, but a team always develops a connection despite the time spent.

The room was cold. There was a small draft coming from underneath the door pushing the cool air against her dingy skin. She felt disgusting. She wanted a shower. The feeling of water would feel like all the worry would disappear. She could still feel the mud from her fall yesterday in the forest. She was scared to see her hair in the light. Maybe her hair wasn't the bubblegum pink she loved but instead an earthy brown.

She didn't want to think about yesterday. Or it could've been a couple days ago, she couldn't record the time. All that she knew at the moment was the demon who came into her cell that night. His touches still haunted her skin. His kisses still felt phantom on her lips.

Sakura cursed that damn Uchiha for stealing her away and humiliating her like that. She prayed that when her team returned to Kohona, Naruto would immediately send Sasuke to destroy his bastard of a brother. His perversion was disgusting to her. The way he took his little brother's identity to feel her was revolting.

But she couldn't lie, she slightly enjoyed it. Sasuke's image seemed like it was so real and for a second she didn't want it to end. If the illusion wouldn't have looked too good to be true, Sakura could have given him everything. She was ready. For years, Sakura had loved Sasuke. But as Sasuke grew apart from her, she got rid of her puppy love and moved on. She still loved his in the back of her heart, but she didn't let it get to her. She was stronger. But she hated herself for letting Itachi take advantage of her.

She should've seen through the genjutsu.

Sakura opened her eyes to look into the darkness of the ceiling. The darkness seemed to swirl around her.

_Maybe this is what the inside of Itachi's heart looks like._

Wrapping her arms around her body, she pushed herself up into a sitting position. She laid her head against the damp wall.

She wanted to cry, but she wouldn't let herself do it. Cry was for the weak.

Time began to pass as she starred into the darkness. Her eyes were locked onto the door emitting little light.

Curiosity called to her wondering what was behind the door. She had the urge to crawl over to the door to reveal what was outside, but it was useless. There were chakra bonds all around the room and the metal door was locked from the outside. Outside these walls must hold the rest of the bodies of the vicious Akatsuki. She knew some of their names, but not all.

She didn't have the strength to feel the chakra signatures of anything outside of the walls, due to the annoying chakra bonds. Her strength wasn't recovering, which she could've easily used to break down the walls of the molding cell.

Hours began to roll by.

She wondered if there was really anybody in the base. She couldn't hear anything coming from the hall. There hasn't been any footsteps. No one has come to check on her.

She tried to close her eyes to let even more time pass, but her roaring stomach forced her to stay awake. She was starving. She couldn't remember the last time she ate. She gripped her stomach, but no comfort came from it.

She needed to eat to at least regain some of her natural energy. Itachi wasn't going to let her starve. He had to bring her food. Why would he abduct her then let her rot in a cell. Was he that cruel?

As if on a queue, the door to her cell suddenly opened. Light flooded towards Sakura. The once room filled with darkness was kissed with the candle light.. The light blurred her vision.

In the doorway stood a tall figure. Her eyes slowly adjusted to the light and she began to see the bright red Akatsuki clouds.

She feared it was Itachi, but by the height there was no way that he was here. This figure was an inhuman height.

The figure came closer to her and she could see his blue tinted skin.

Instinctively she reached to her thigh for her kunai pouch, but not to her surprise her weapons were gone.

"Calm it Blossom, I'm not here to hurt you." She could tell who this member was as he came closer to her. His voice was all too familiar.

"Are you Hoshigaki Kisame, a Swordsmen from the Mist?" Sakura tried to keep her voice from trembling slightly, but her attempts were futile.

"The one and only." He cockily said as he bent down to her. Her eyes never left him. Hoshigaki Kisame was a missing nin from the Mist country. She first learned about him from her research of Zabuza, after their encounter. Researching the Akatsuki members was a requirement for the bingo book, but a member that was involved with both the Akatsuki and the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist was a character to look after. He was feared by many, but never seemed to have many offences recorded. She knew he had been off the Kohona radar for quite some time.

She watched as he placed a metal tray down in front of her. The tray contained a cup of water and a bowl of rice. The rice seemed cold and a bit grimy. Sakura looked at him confused.

"Eat this." He placed a pair of chopsticks in the bowl of rice. Sakura kept her eyes on him as he continued to sit in front of her, not touching her food. Sakura wasn't looking forward to eating something prepared by an Akatsuki member. Kisame continued to stare at her back, not moving.

"Are you going to leave?" Sakura stated glaring. Kisame lowered himself to the grown to sit.

"I have to make sure you're not going to somehow hurt yourself. Itachi's orders." Kisame smiled at her then positioned himself in a comfortable position. His legs were crossed and he place each hand on either side.

"Why didn't he come in here then? Are you his pet fish or something?" She barked at him and saw no reaction. He chuckled into the air.

"You better eat before I have to take that away. You won't get food for a while if you don't eat it." He pointed to the food and waited. Sakura only continued to glare, not even acknowledging the food. He didn't necessarily answer her question.

"So be it." Kisame reached for the tray, but Sakura was too hungry to let it pass. She quickly picked up the bowl of rice and held it to herself, protecting it like a child. Kisame smiled then pulled back and relaxed once more.

Hunger began to overwhelm her. Sakura began shoveling the rice into her mouth. The rice was cold, like it had been sitting out for a while. She didn't care. She needed food.

She quickly ate the rest with Kisame awkwardly watching her. His beady eyes studied her intensely as she continued to swallow the rice. She placed the bowl down and downed the cup of water. She then placed the cup alongside the bowl on the tray. Her eyes went back onto Kisame, who smiled in approval.

Pulling himself out of his comfortable position, Kisame grabbed the tray and stood up. He turned to leave, but began digging in his cloak. He tossed a silver flask to her and she caught it with ease. "You're gonna need this Blossom."

Sakura stared at the flask in confusion, before she could question it, Kisame started again.

"In a little bit someone will bring you more food. Then afterwards someone will escort you to the shower. You look like you need that too."

Without another word, he left the room and cut off the light.

Sakura looked curiously at the flask. She already knew there was sake inside of the container. She was never much of drinker, but this potent drink seemed like it would do great for her at the moment.

Unscrewing the top, she took a large swig of it and exhaled quickly. The liquid was bitter as it seared the back of her throat. She hated it, but more of it would knock her out.

It seemed like more hours passed. Time wasn't something to really keep track of inside of the cell. Sakura had fallen asleep due to the sake.

She was hungry again. She knew the rice wasn't going to leave her sufficed. She remembered Kisame saying someone would be back for her. So she would have to suck it up and live for another few hours.

She tried to pass the time by thinking, which she knew it couldn't end well.

She began to think about Naruto. She missed him. The first time Sakura got to see him was at his office when they discussed Sasuke. She loved how he had matured. His hair was still shaggy like before, but seemed more sophisticated. She believed it made him a lot more attractive. He had grown taller and seemed stronger. He had to be strong, he was the Hokage. The strongest shinobi in the village. He was living his dream it seemed. He had everything in front of him; his title, the pride, and his fiancé, but he was missing one thing. His best friends beside him. Naruto used to tell her about how he couldn't wait to be Hokage with Sakura and Sasuke on his arms. He wanted them to be the trio. He wanted us to all stay close, but that didn't happen. They all fell apart. Went their separate ways. Naruto lives the proud life as hokage. Sakura runs the hospital everyday. Sasuke is unknown.

Naruto didn't get what he wanted.

Neither did she.

More hours passed slowly and she grew hungrier. She thought she could potentially scream to get their attention.

Then slowly the door to the room opened once more. The light she missed flooded the room once again. A silhouetted figure quickly entered the room and closed the door without a word. From what Sakura observed, the figure was not Kisame. It was too short.

The room was dark again and silence fell over. Her eyes began to dart around the room.

_'Where is he?'_ She mentally screamed as she pulled her cloak tighter to her. She feared that it was Itachi. She feared he was going to take advantage of her weak state once more. The phantom kisses returned to her flesh again. The feeling of him touch her disgusted her so.

Footsteps began to resound in the cell. As they got closer, Sakura pushed herself closer to the cold wall, as if trying to run away. Merging with the wall was physically impossible. She couldn't tell what it was, but not being able to see her intruder scared her beyond comprehension.

The footsteps ceased in front of her. She heard the clank of metal as well. The rustle of fabric kissed her ears. She wanted to speak, but no sound would come out. Her mouth laid agape Fear was blossoming like crazy within her.

Suddenly a spark emitted in front of her, causing her to whimper. She squeezed her eyes tightly. A soft orange light kissed her eye lids. Slowly opening her eyes again, Sakura watched as a match developed a flame in front of her, then move slowly to a candelabra. Slowly, the light from the candles brightened the face of the wielder.

The hands clenched around the candelabra looked as gentle as a child's but had some rough aspects of it. Her eyes began to follow the toned arm up to the chest of the man. He wore a mesh shirt that showed off his toned collar bones. She wanted to continue to examine the man, but suddenly her emerald eyes clashed with his own ocean blues.

She could see every detail on his face; from his beautiful ocean eyes to his cocky sly smile he bore to her. His long blond hair covered one of his eyes and seemed to cascade down his back. She wanted to touch it because it seemed so soft.

His eyes fell upon her and took her in like she was a snack.

She then noticed how close this man was to her. His face was nearly inches away from her. He seemed to be examining her. Taking in her appearance like she was a work of art. His blue eyes traveled up and down her face, pausing only when he met her eyes again.

Fear told her to move, but her confidence kept her in place. She didn't want to display any fear. Displaying fear could only leave her to show that she could be taken advantage of. She wouldn't let the invasion of space truly bother her.

"Good morning." The man finally spoke, his eyes locked on her own. His deep monotone voice wrapped around her like a blanket, shaking her nerves. Shivers ran down her back.

"oh…Morning." Her voice shook wildly from the uncomfortable air coming from him. She didn't know what to do. What was this man going to do?

The man chuckled at her fear. The laugh seemed a bit comforting. It wasn't sinister like you'd expect from an Akatsuki member. It was friendly. "Not good 'cause I'm here, yeah?" He chuckled again.

She didn't reply. She didn't know what to say. The man before her was a ruthless member of the Akatsuki, but the behavior he projected to her was of a friendlier man. It was all too weird.

He smirked at her, then switched from his knees to his bottom. He crossed his legs and placed his hands on each knee. Even though he relaxed and gave her space, Sakura kept her tense posture. She needed to keep her guard up.

The blond man placed down the candelabra with a little clank onto the floor, then picked up a tray that was placed to her right. Sakura examined the contents on the tray that was now on his lap. Her stomach did a back flip at the sight of the array of foods.

An apple sat next to a large rice bowl. A fillet of fish with two lemons sat perfectly next to it along with a serving of sweet dango. A steaming cup of tea sat in the corner of the tray. The smell of the food was nearly intoxicating. She could feel her mouth began to water, but she resisted the lust for the food.

The man noticed her lustful eyes and chuckled at her strength. He took the chopsticks and picked up a piece of the fish to waft the smell to her nose. She glared at him from the attempt. His teasing wouldn't phase her. But she inhaled the scent and contemplated on just stealing the food from him, but she decided against it.

He moved the chopsticks closer to her mouth. She couldn't help but look surprised at the man. Was he going to feed it to her?

"Come on, yeah." He teased the food in front of her lips. "It's not poisoned. I promise. I worked hard on it." His smiled melted her heart a bit. She starred at the food, looking for any kind of discoloration from poison, but she couldn't tell. The smell was too potent to sense any toxins. When she figured the coast may be clear, she kindly accepted his offer.

"There you go, yeah." He proceeded to pick up more food with the chopsticks and fed her like a child. "I was only supposed to bring you some rice and water, but I believe you deserve better."

Sakura's eyes widened at his kindness. Why are these brutal murderers being so kind to her? First Kisame gives her a flask and now this man was feeding her. Were the Akatsuki really as bad as the world made them?

"Why?" Sakura whispered as another piece of fish neared her lips.

"hm?" He halted his movements and looked at her in the eyes.

"Why are you being so kind? Am I not your prisoner?" When she finished her sentence, the man lowered the chopsticks a bit. A slightly sad look manifested on his face.

"Because I believe you deserve to have a decent meal. You can't solely live on just rice and water. I thought your appreciate the protein and fruits, yeah." He seemed so serious with his tone. "Besides, you're not _my _prisioner."

This man was not treating her like a prisoner of the Akatsuki, but instead like a princess. He fed the food to her despite the fact that her arms were moveable. His kindness wasn't something to be thought of in an Akatsuki member. He was supposed to be sadistic, but instead he was sweet. He reminded her of Naruto in a way. She could vaguely remember on days that she was sick, Naruto would be on her side spoon feeding her soups. This man reminded her so much about Naruto that it slightly bothered her.

Was this man a true Akatsuki member, or some kind of joke?

"I don't understand why you're doing this." Sakura spoke quickly and reached for the chopsticks in his hand. He pushed her hand away and waved his finger at her. He pushed the piece of fish back toward her mouth. She accepted the piece again.

"You don't need to understand. Just be glad it's me feeding you this time, yeah." He smiled at her and moved on to feeding her the rice.

She was a bit grateful that it was him feeding her, whoever he was. Kisame wasn't that rude of a server. He was just a little bit rude and cocky with supervising her while she ate. She was mostly glad that Itachi had not returned. She was afraid to see him again, but she also wanted to murder him for what he did. Being a faker wasn't something he should be too proud of it. Itachi seemed to be the devil of the Akatsuki, from what she's seen.

And this man before her was way different from anyone she had known, except for Naruto. Though this man seemed a bit more mature that Naruto. Maybe Naruto was going to treat Hinata like this when he learned to grow up a bit. This man's heart showed her such kindness that she could see past the missing-nin aspect to him to see the goodness inside of him.

"What's your name?" She finally asked. She couldn't let him feed her anonymously.

"My name's Deidara." He finished the rice and picked up the dango. Before he moved it to her he looked her in the eyes. "and I know you, Haruno Sakura. I'm please to meet such a beauty such as you." When he finished her proceeded to feed the dango to her. She accepted it without hesitation as a blush began to form across her cheeks. The taste was amazing.

She couldn't understand why she was letting this s-rank criminal be so sweet o her. She could've shoved him away and spit in his face, but he was way to kind for that. He was too kind to her. She couldn't reject him.

When she ate the final piece of dango, Deidara pulled the stick away from her mouth and set it down on the tray. He then grabbed the cup of tea and placed it in her hands. At least he'd let her drink on her own. The cup was warm in the palms of her hands, which was really soothing. She took a sip from the sweet tea and enjoyed the way it went down her throat. She smiled through the cup as she drank every last drop. The tea and food left in her stomach left her feeling wonderful, despite the fact she still felt extremely dingy from the dirt lingering on her skin.

"Thank you Deidara-san." Sakura placed the cup on the tray and smiled finally at Deidara. She knew she could sweet to him because he was sweet to her. He deserved it. She bowed her head slightly to show her appreciation.

Deidara took two of his finder under her chin and lifted her to look him in the eyes. Sakura felt her heart sink a bit. He was touching her. Her emerald eyes were captured in his ocean blues. She could see how handsome this man really was.

"It's the best I can do for a beautiful such as you." He leaned up and kissed her gently on the forehead. Without another word, he picked up the tray and candles. He tossed the uneaten apple into her lap and gave her one last smile. Sakura was still in shock from his actions. He exited the room quickly and Sakura faced the dark once more.

Her happiness left as quick as Deidara had left. She felt her loneliness overwhelming her once more.

As she sat in silence once more, she held onto the apple like a lifeline.

She felt as if she was going mad.


	6. Chapter 5

_**Authors Note: I apologize for the long hiatus, but I ran out of writing inspiration. But now I'm back with a super long chapter to hopefully satisfy all.**_

_**Enjoy!**_

::Chapter Five::

The air was cold from the rain that had finally subsided. Despair hung like a canopy over the two shinobi slowly closing in on the gates of their home that they had departed from just a day before. Sai and Shikamaru hung their heads low as the ANBU that were guarding the gates noticed their return. The guards quickly approached the two.

"Captain Shikamaru! Is everything alright?" The ANBU with the lizard mask exclaimed quickly. Shikamaru quickly lowered Neji, whom was still unconscious, off his back and into the arms of the ANBU. The lizard ANBU adjusted under the weight of Neji and without another word, started to carry Neji to the hospital in the village.

The ANBU with the leopard mask came up to Sai with a quick motion and immediately began healing his wounds on his back.

"That's unneeded." Sai shrugged away from the medical nin.

"Please, you need to be healed or your wounds will grow an infection." The leopard ANBU attempted to touch his back again, but Sai pulled away once again. Sai looked down to the porcelain cat mask still resting in his palm. Frustration pumped through him.

"Shikamaru, we have to go the Hokage." Sai turned to Shikamaru. Shikamaru nodded to Sai before pushing past the leopard ANBU to lead Sai.

The air around them seemed to grow thicker and thicker. The two of them just lost the glue to the village and they knew they were going to pay for it.

The two shinobi arrived just outside the doors of the Hokage's office before they both stopped in their tracks. Inside was their friend.

A friend whom will be devastated when he hears the news.

Sai was pale. He felt sick to his stomach, which was abnormal for him. He clutched the porcelain mask to his body like a life line. Sakura was gone and he didn't know when he could see her again. The sweet smell of her perfume still lingered on the mask, casting a phantom image in front of him.

The jewel of Kohona was gone.

He could feel rage boiling inside of him.

"We have to go back." Sai whispered aggressively before turning to go back down the hall. Shikamaru quickly grabbed his arm to hold him back.

"Go back to what? She's gone Sai." Shikamaru sternly stated, trying to get Sai to see his stubbornness. There was no reason for false hopes.

"They couldn't have taken her far, they couldn't just retreat across country in a matter of hours! That's impossible even for the fastest shinobi."

Shikamaru grabbed Sai by shouldered and turned him to himself. "Get yourself together Sai! We both lost her. No reason to act so rash!" Shikamaru wanted to scream at him, but he didn't want to alarm the Hokage whom was behind the doors. Though, he couldn't blame Sai. He was so ashamed of himself for not protecting Sakura. He wasn't a really close friend to her, but she was his teammate at different points in time. He felt as if he lost his team.

"Why are you so calm about this?" Sai snarled at Shikamaru and pulled his shoulders from him. "Our teammate was just taken by the Akatsuki, but what makes it worse is that she was stolen by Uchiha Itachi. Sasuke's sadistic brother! Who knows what he's doing with her right now! She could be tortured or even dead!"

Shikamaru took Sai up by the collar and pulled him closer. His eyes bore an enraged fury that sent fear down Sai. The anger that Shikamaru displayed was a rare sighting, but when it was seen it felt bone chilling.

"She's not dead. She's alive and we're going to get her. You know better than to degrade her like that. You know she's way stronger than we both believe." Shikamaru hissed at Sai. "She has more strength than everyone in this damn village."

Sai's eyes softened at the realization. He did believe that Sakura was way stronger than he believed. She displayed a lot of strength as they all grew up. She was probably one of the strongest kunoichis he had ever known.

Without warning, both Shikamaru and Sai froze as the door behind them opened quickly. Both of their eyes shot to their friend and Hokage, Naruto. His hand remained on the door as his perplexed eyes studied the shinobi in front of him.

"You've already returned? That didn't seem to take long." Naruto asked, but began to feel the intensity between the two, there was no way past it. Shikamaru loosened his grip on Sai and let him fall to the floor. Sai caught himself quickly before fixed his stance.

Naruto looked into Sai's eyes and could see the raw emotion welling inside of his usually emotionless partner's dark eyes. His eyes seemed more hollow than usual and it disturbed Naruto. Something must have happened. Something bad.

Naruto looked to Shikamaru and could see the guilt falling upon him as well.

Naruto had to find out what happened.

"Get in here." Naruto grabbed the two partners and dragged them to his desk. He motioned his fiancé Hinata to shut the door swiftly before hopping onto his desk for his own interrogation.

"Now then, get to talking." Naruto raised his chin to them and tried to sound demanding.

Sai and Shikamaru only looked at each other. They didn't know where to start.

After a few long moments, Shikamaru finally stepped forward and lifted his chin back at Naruto.

"Nara Shikamaru, captain of ANBU squad three. I've returned to inform you that our mission has been a failure."

Naruto starred at them astonished. How could their team have failed? A simple mission such as this was impossible to fail, even for Naruto.

"How did you fail?" Naruto interrogated, but Shikamaru merely fell silent.

He couldn't find the words, they were lost in the bottom of his throat. How could he tell her best friend?

Sai stood next to Shikamaru still clutching the porcelain mask that fit so perfectly in his hands. He could feel Shikamaru breaking next to him, so he willed himself to help him.

"Squad member Hyuuga is currently in the hospital with injuries. Squad medic Haruno has…" Sai swallowed, watching Naruto's expression change. "Has been abducted and her location is unknown."

"Sakura's been kidnapped?" Naruto hopped off the desk and threw his arms out. "How? By who?" His voice shook in fear and anger. His best friend was off in the world somewhere and he didn't know where to even look.

"Akatsuki." Shikamaru spoke before Sai could. Sai looked at Shikamaru, but silently communicated and could see why.

Naruto's eyes widened even more. "Why the hell would they do that?"

"We don't know their motive. We ran into them when we were caught in a storm that was passing through." Shikamaru wrapped his fingers around each other, trying to break his nervousness.

Sai presented the porcelain cat mask to Naruto, who only starred at the details of the mask. His fingers reached out to touch the porcelain, but stopped cold as he could feel her phantom over the paint. Naruto could see Sakura wearing the façade where the only way you could identify her was the rosette hair flowing behind her. He could feel her confidence seeping out as she flaunted the mask. Naruto took the mask into his own hands. Emotions wanted to pour out, but he wouldn't let that happen.

Naruto turned away from the two and proceeded behind his desk, where he finally sat down. He place Sakura's mask down onto the wood of the desk, then opened a drawer to search for a file. His fingers moved rapidly across the manila files till he find the files of every Akatsuki member that was known. The manila files fell upon the top of desk as he threw one after another up there. Hinata stood by his side and tried to straighten up each file as it fell sloppily against the wood.

"Which one was it." Naruto's eyes narrowed with anger as he forced the final folder onto the desk. There were small pictures of each member of the Akatsuki that was documented. Ten pictures were paper clipped to the files, giving a face to every name.

Sai pointed to Hoshigaki Kisame's file. "He was one of them." His eyes began to travel past the rest of the members until his eyes rested on the last member. He was about to point him out, but the door to the office was forced opened.

All four of them looked to the door to see the intruder. Uchiha Sasuke stood there in an armor similar to the ANBU's but with a mesh top and a cloak that hung past his knees that concealed his katana.

"Naruto. I've come to request a mission." Sasuke stopped once he noticed the others standing around the room. His eyes shot back and forth between the depressed and enraged stares. He could feel the heavy aura clouding the room. "What's this?"

Naruto bowed his head a bit, but pulled it back up for courage. Sasuke could handle the news, but Naruto feared the worst case scenario.

"Sakura is missing." Naruto whispered his words in confidence. His eyes widened as Sasuke rushed to the desk and slammed his hands on the desk. His emotion didn't seem to change much, only the small fire from his sharingan eyes began to blaze.

"What?" Sasuke said calmly, but he was nowhere near calm.

"She was taken by the Akatsuki, for who knows what reason." Naruto motioned toward the files on the desk. "I will be organizing a search and rescue team right after this meeting. This isn't something to jump head first into."

Sasuke's fists balled up. "Who was it?"

"Hoshigaki Kisame and…." Naruto's voice trailed as he looked back at Sai, who attempted to say the final name until the door was forced opened once again.

"Does anyone know how to knock-" Naruto shouted but Neji was the one who stood in the doorway. He looked so out of breath.

"Uchiha!" He shouted at the group before rushing to the desk. His hand slammed onto Uchiha Itachi's file and yelled once again. "That bastard took Sakura!"

The room fell into silence as the aura around Sasuke grew dark. Suddenly, Sasuke ripped Itachi's file from the desk and sent the confidential contents all over the floor in the room before rushing out the room. Everyone was silent until every piece of parchment fell to the floor.

"This is bad." Naruto rubbed his head and he slammed it against the table. Sasuke's reaction was the end of it. Sasuke was going after Sakura without anything stopping him. He was determined.

Hinata rushed over to Naruto and placed her hands on his shoulders. She lowered her head down to his own and whispered into his ear. "You know he's going after him."

Naruto nodded. He knew this was only the icing on top of the cake. Sasuke's reaction to Sakura's disappearance was a display of raw emotion, but his reaction to Itachi's involvement only made matters worse.

"We have to leave now Naruto. She could be in trouble." Neji starred again, pure anger pouring out. He ran his hand against the table, his nails scratching the wood.

Naruto tensed, but the feeling of Hinata's hands against his shoulders soothed him. Neji was right in every way, but Naruto couldn't act so rash like he once would do before. Once he became Hokage, he had to give up the over reactive tendencies that he had once. Hinata was always there to help him ultimately decide what to do with her soothing touches of encouragement.

"We can't just blindly rush into the country like Sasuke with no starting point in the mission. We need to formulate a plan of attack." With one scoop, Naruto picked up every Akatsuki file, except for Itachi and Kisame's, and placed them at the corner of the desk. "We'll need to figure out a plan to take down these bastards." Naruto looked back up at the trio standing before him.

"Naruto has a plan? That's a fucking first." Shikamaru chuckled sadly, but his attempted to lighten the mood just a bit was futile.

The trio before him all bore the same expression of despair. All three lost something today.

Naruto took his hands and ran them through his hair before making a decision.

"Come back here at 8 tonight." He pushed himself back in his chair. "We'll discuss the plan."

Sakura laid on the cold floor with a small woolen blanket that Deidara brought to her after he brought her breakfast. Her eyes remained shut despite the fact that she was wide away. The darkness of the room wasn't as calming or delightful as her room back home.

She missed her bed. She missed her satin sheets that was soft against her skin. The feeling of her plush comforter called to her. Her large quantity of pillows yearned for her sleepy head to fall onto them.

She hated the floor. She hated the dampness of the room. She hated the rough texture of the wool blanket. She hated this place.

Despite the hate, she enjoyed the small hospitality that was given to her. Deidara was like a ray of sunlight in the eternal darkness of the Akatsuki base. He was the only person that has helped her throughout the entire experience. He shined as bright as the sun for her.

A cold chill grew over her. Her hands gripped the blanket and tried to tighten it around her body, but the blanket was too small for her. The edges barley covered her thighs and upper body. She tried to curl up closer to herself in attempt to make herself smaller, but it was no use.

Another feeling grew over her. One she had not noticed for a while. Her legs twisted together.

She had to go to the bathroom. The entire time she has been in the room, she never went to the bathroom. There was no bathroom in the room or anywhere in sight.

Sakura didn't know what to do.

Maybe she could yell of Deidara so he could take her to a bathroom. What if someone else came to her shouts?

Her eyes then moved to the door that kept her from the world. Light seeped through the cracks, beckoning for her.

Maybe she could do it.

Building up the courage, Sakura used her small hands to push her body off the floor. The tiny blanket fell from her frame as she stood up. Her legs were weak and wobbled. Her body has not been used for a while. Lying on the floor has hindered her performance.

Slowly, she made her way to the door. She kept her footsteps inaudible as she tried to as stealthy as possible. Any shinobi would be able to hear regular footsteps, but only a trained ear would be able to her such a light step of a kunoichi. Kunoichi were trained with the grace of ballet dancers, which created silent killers in the process. Stealth was on Sakura's side, but there was a sore on her plan. Her chakra was so depleted that she was extremely weak. Also, without chakra, she could not mask her nearly gone chakra signature that was probably felt all around the facility.

She wanted to risk it. She needed to leave the room. She needed to get out of the darkness for even a few moments. Even if they throw her back into hell, she wanted to at least enjoy the light and enjoy a bathroom break.

Biting her tongue softly, she lowered her hand onto the cool door handle. She remembered that there was a charka bond around the room that could keep her inside the room. She turned the door handle slowly until she heard a click. Nothing was on the door. It wasn't locked anymore either.

_Maybe Deidara forgot to re-secure the room._

She smiled slightly at his naïve behavior before sliding the door open a bit. The light from the hallway burned her eyes as she adjusted. Her vision began to become blurry. The door was open enough for her to look down the first half of the hall. All she could see was more doors down the long corridor. She assumed that was what was on the other side too.

Once her eyes finally adjusted, she opened the door even more and stepped into the hall. The red walls felt warmer than the dark room she just emerged from. She silently closed the door to create the illusion she was still inside.

Now was her mission, to find the bathroom.

She began to walk silently down the hall. Studying each door as she passed them, she couldn't figure out which one was a bathroom. She didn't want to start checking each room, in fear of stumbling into someone's personal quarters. Life would be ruined quickly if she was to accidently stumble into Itachi's bedroom.

The absence of any signs or picture made her nervous. She expected the Akatsuki base to be like a office, but that gave them too much credit. The Akatsuki frequently moved from location to location to keep themselves under the radar. This base seemed like a long-term residence that Kohona has yet to find. Maybe if she escaped she could relay the coordinates to Naruto so they could ruin the rats nest.

Finally, she came onto an open door. There was no light inside the room. Fear tickled her stomach, but she had to take the chance.

Placing her palm on the door, she opened the door even more to get a better look inside. When she saw the reflection of the light on the tile floor of the room, she smiled gleefully. Without any restraint, she quickly found the light switch, closed the door behind her and proceeded her mission.

Once she was finished, she took a couple moments to stay in the light before she would sneak back to the darkness. The bathroom was very welcoming. The tiles and walls were really bright. The only dark objects were the black shower curtains and floor rugs. There was a large mirror above the sink that had two gothic style light fixtures on either sides of it. Sakura approached the mirror with the worst feeling.

Sakura felt and looked raggedy. Her hair was tangled and seemed a darker tint because of the mud encrusted on each strand. The porcelain skin she once bore seemed to be darker than usual.

Not wanting to waste anymore time, Sakura quickly searched for a wash rag, which she found under the sink. Quickly wetting it with water and soap, Sakura proceeded to wipe the dirt off her skin, revealing the pale skin beneath. She felt as if her skin could breathe once more. She then tried to comb through her hair with wet fingers to try to lighten it and detangle it some, but no dice.

After a couple more minutes of washing, Sakura was a bit more satisfied with her look. She then quickly cleaned the sink up, not that she really cared if she messed up the Akatsuki's bathroom, she's just too nice. Quietly, she tiptoed back through the door and through the hall.

As she made her way through the hall, her surroundings didn't seem that familiar anymore. Everything seemed a bit off.

A nervous feeling began to well in her stomach as she questioned how many rights it took to get back to the room.

There was two sets of voices drifted from a room that she had approached. The door to the room was cracked, but the two male voices spoke in hushed volumes. Curiosity overwhelming her, Sakura pushed herself up to the wall to eavesdrop.

"The little shit has yet to say anything about our reward." The first male voice spoke, he sounded extremely annoyed. "I'm not going to start looking for him unless I see there's a reward on his head."

"Of course there will be an award." The second voice spoke, which sounded more sadistic and optimistic. "Maybe the reward will be the opportunity to slaughter him in front of his brother." The second voice laughed.

Sakura brought her hand up to her mouth to hold back from gasping. She couldn't help but to think that she knew who they were talking about.

"You know the Uchiha has a soft spot for his little brother, there will be no way you can kill him in front of him. So maybe if you were out of sight…" The first voice trailed off into conversation as Sakura shook.

Why was the Akatsuki given a bounty on Sasuke?  
Was it because of Orochimaru's death?

Or just because her was Itachi's brother?

Sakura was so flooded with thought, she didn't hear the two voices silence.

Sakura suddenly felt her face being forced to turn by a firm hand clenching her jaw and cheeks. Violet eyes was what her vert orbs met.

Sakura could recognize that the eyes before her belonged to the Akatsuki member Hidan. A toothy grin was plastered onto his face.

"Hey there little mama." He used his free hand to push back his already slick white hair, trying to play things cool.

Sakura tried to shake her face from him, but her eyes then met snake green eyes of Hidan's partner Kakuzu. The eerie look he gave her was extremely unsettling, so she was forced to remain in place.

"What are you doing without your guard dog?" Hidan chuckled as he squished her face tighter, forcing her to pout.

"I don't have a guard dog. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to return to my room." Sakura tried to pull her face out, while avoiding the gaze of Kakuzu. Hidan released Sakura's face, but snaked his arm around her and pushed her back to the wall. He placed his knee in between her legs.

"Well you should have one, cause right now you're left for the wolves." Hidan chuckled before taking his face to invade her personal space. He rested his head in the crook of her neck and breathed her scent.

"You see, when you're a deadly criminal organization with only one girl in it, who isn't that attractive and completely unavailable, you start to get desperate when your fellows begin bringing in their women."

Sakura nudged him away and tried to force him back, but her tries fell short.

"Do you think Itachi will share you?" Hidan grinned and closed in on her face.

"No." A voice next to them rang out as Sakura opened her mouth. Her eyes shot to the side to see Itachi standing there. He looked super out of character with his pajama pants and no shirt. Sakura couldn't believe it was him.

Hidan smiled at Itachi mockingly and grabbed hold of Sakura's face once more. "but look Itachi! She's so adorable. Can I keep her for just a little bit." Hidan shook Sakura's face at Itachi, taunting him more.

As a threat, Itachi threw a kunai right past Hidan's face, which scarped him slightly causing blood to drip a bit. Kakuzu caught the kunai by the handle before it came to hit him in the face. Hidan grinned a bit before using his tongue to lick away his own blood.

"I may be immortal, but I know that you have many different ways to destroy me." Hidan slowly released Sakura and nudged her away. "You can have her back for now, but I would suggest keeping an eye on your little bird." Hidan gave Sakura a wink, which she quickly tried to shrug off. Hidan chuckled once more before retreating back into his room.

Kakuzu stood there and starred directly into Itachi's sharingan eyes for a moment unmoving. Sakura could feel the tension between the two. When it got to the point that the intensity was going to burst, Kakuzu turned to leave to his own room.

Sakura watched Kakuzu turn a corner before turning back to Itachi, who just stood there starring at you pink kunoichi. Sakura turned red a bit by his gaze. It seemed very emotionless and cool, but there was a hint worry in his eyes that she could clearly see.

He look liked his little brother, which bothered her a lot.

"Uh, thanks." Sakura spoke silently. She didn't know how she felt about thanking an Akatsuki, let alone this member being Itachi. Though she was grateful because she knew how much more sadistic Hidan was than Itachi. At least Itachi had some compassion for others, while Hidan only knew two things: Jashin and genocide.

"Why did you leave your chambers?" Itachi finally spoke.

"I'd hardly call that room chambers, but I had to use the bathroom. Cause I'm a human being." Sakura didn't know why she was being so cocky, but it was burning within her for a while. Sakura had been only emotionally tortured and taunted that she needed to take out some frustration on someone. Even if it was through some sass.

"At least you have your own chambers. I could easily chain you to the foot of my bed to keep an eye on you." Itachi growled a bit. Sakura was taken aback by his response.

"Um excuse me Uchiha! You brought me here for god knows what reason and you expect me not to wander? Be happy I didn't try to escape. All I had to was pee and yet you threaten to chain me to your bed like an animal. Why did you bring me here anyway? What was your reasoning to bring me here?" Sakura began to shout. Taking the risk, she stepped forward to taunt him a bit.

"Why would you take me from my village? Do you get off to these types of things? Do you enjoy taunting with your girls and breaking their minds to the point that they will submit to you?" Sakura took her finger and jabbed it into Itachi's chest. "Are you really a human? Or just a sick fuck who likes to fuck with girls and murder families?"

Before Sakura could react, the finger that she was jabbing Itachi with was bent backwards and completely broken. She retracted her hand, but was quickly taken by the wrist down through the hallway and back to her room, where she was pushed into without another word.

Sakura gritted her teeth in pain as she walked back to her spot against the wall. She slowly slid down as she clutched her pointer finger.

There wasn't enough chakra at the moment to even numb the pain.

All Sakura could do was lie on the ground and wait for herself to heal.

Though now Sakura knew what not to say to the temperamental Uchiha.

Even if it was a tad bit satisfying.


End file.
